Topic: overlooked Lemons

[Willie Poor Boy]

As a kind of opposite approach to a best of lists--and since he has almost 80 recordings out there I thought I'd poll the forum for favorite neglected gems in his catalogue.  Not one of the first 30 songs that come up in discussing his playing but deserving more attention.

Here are two I like that either have a brilliant passage that is absolutely Jeffersonian and not to be missed and/or a neglected thorough-going performance that doesn't get the same ink that his famous recordings do.

Hangman's Blues: it has some great guitar responses in the lyric section that sound more in the bass register.  Right or wrong, I usually think of him as favoring the treble so this one really jumped out at me.  He has a pattern that shows up in various pitches and then he goes to town with it around 1:10 like a man possessed.  Just a brief moment in his output but I love it. 

Mean Jumper Blues: for a complete performance I can't get enough of this lately.  His tempo is slower than usual, like he took an extra shot of bourbon before picking up the guitar.  He might have hit a snag at one point but the overall effect is just casual mastery of his craft and the lyrics are really fresh.

[Johnm]

Merry Christmas, everybody!  That's a neat topic you've posted, Brad.  Without any particular explanation or justification of these choices, I'll go with:
   * "Long Lastin' Lovin'"
   * "Stocking Feet Blues"
   * "Right of Way Blues"
   * "Shuckin' Sugar"
All best,
Johnm

[uncle bud]

There are lots of underappreciated Lemon songs, imo. He's always hailed as one of the true greats, yet sometimes it seems much of his work is neglected. Maybe I'm just biased!

A few I feel are worthy of attention:

Booster Blues - I like the crazed version of his E accompaniment heard on later tunes.
Chock House Blues - brilliant, hard to get people excited about the weak acoustic recording though.
Gone Dead On You Blues - love the vocal on this.

I could go on but will restrain myself.

[Blind Arthur]

The wonderful two-verse-guitar solo in Bed Springs Blues and the verse right after...

Generally I like his 1929 recordings most. All is one long song, one long flow many of them are easy to sing-along with while reading or working. A favorite is Tin Cup Blues probably...also Long Distance Moan.

From a guitar perspective, personal favorite is and stays Lemon?s Worried Blues